Concerning the status of Luisa’s writings, the Archbishop of Trani has recently stated that the Moratorium on Luisa’s writings remains in force! Pre-empting the moratorium will only ensure the spread of theological errors and improper catechesis, as well as prejudice the Cause of Luisa Piccarreta. The archbishop encourages prayer groups on her spirituality, but asks the faithful to await the final verdict on, and proper interpretation of, the doctrines contained in the writings.

EWTN's original FAQ from 2003 is provided below. As it notes, the patrimony of Luisa Piccarreta remains the responsibility of the Archbishop of Trani, Italy, until the Holy See determines otherwise. The promotion of the writings and the use of translations is not authorized without his permission, except as stipulated in the directives indicated.

For several
years an incongruity has existed between the fame of holiness of
Luisa Piccarreta, which includes the canonization of one of her
spiritual sons, St. Annibale de Francia, and the establishment
of a Cause for her own beatification, and the confusion and
controversy surrounding her name and spirituality, especially in
the United States. It has never seemed justified to attribute this
confusion to the Servant of God, but rather to poor translations,
rash interpretations of her writings, and a lack of theological
competence by some who try to explain her writings. For this reason, EWTN has always
urged Catholics to use great caution, until such time as clarity could be brought to the
situation by ecclesiastical
authority.

Toward this
end, EWTN contacted the Holy See and the new Archbishop of Trani, Italy, Giovanni Picchierri, where Luisa lived and died and where in 1994 the Diocesan
phase of a Cause
for her Beatification was opened. Until the Cause arrives at
the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints for its Roman phase, the Archbishop is the competent ecclesiastical authority. This contact
resulted in a letter from the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the sending of the Promoter of the
Faith, Father Bernardino Bucci, OFM Cap., to the United States,
both to answer EWTN's questions and to meet with various groups who
promote the spirituality of Luisa Piccarreta. His official capacity is certified by the
Archdiocese in the Certificate he
supplied. Deacon Bill Steltemeier and myself met with Fr. Bucci for
several hours, during which time he answered our questions and
provided the following important clarifications, many of them in
writing (as documented below). I have summarized our meeting and
the documents as follows:

The
Servant of God

Luisa
Piccarreta lived a holy life of prayer and suffering, attested to
by her contemporaries and with a fame of holiness to this day. She
was always obedient and submissive to the Church in everything.
This is precisely known, since from 1884 until her death in 1947
she was under the care of confessors appointed by her bishop. On
this basis the Archbishop of Trani, with the permission of the Holy See,
opened her Cause for Beatification in 1994. The investigation has confirmed
these facts without any doubt. Any attribution of heterodoxy to her constitutes a
grave injustice [Clarifications
1-6].

On October 29, 2005, Archbishop
Pichierri declared the diocesan process of the Cause for the
Beatification of the Servant of God completed, and he committed the
documentation to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.

Her
Writings

Writing under
obedience, Luisa Piccarreta wrote two small texts Life of the
Blessed Virgin and Hours of the Passion, and later
produced 36 numbered manuscripts, in which she elaborated what she
received in prayer about "living in the Divine Will."
These texts were written in her region's Italian dialect, rather than
in standard Italian, a factor which complicates accurate translation of the
sense. A number of the early volumes were reviewed, and
published, by Saint Annibale de Francia (+1927), in his capacity
as confessor and diocesan censor. In 1938, however, this activity
ended, when three of her works, annotated by another person, were
put on the Index of Forbidden Books. The balance of her writings
were taken into custody by the Holy Office (now called the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), where they remained
sequestered until 1994.

In that year,
the Holy See authorized the Cause for the Beatification of Luisa Piccarreta,
now designated Servant of God, by granting it the nihil
obstat. Retaining the originals, the
Congregation allowed the Postulation to photocopy the writings for
study and the production of a critical edition, now in process.
Some other copies of the writings, however, are in circulation,
both from before 1938 and reproduced and translated from the 1994
photocopies. These latter have neither the approval or the
imprimatur of the Archbishop of Trani, who is the legal owner of
Luisa's writings. While the Archdiocese has allowed some small
publishers to exhaust their stocks of the first two books (Life
of the Blessed Virgin and Hours of the Passion), in the
future the Archdiocese alone will produce the authorized translations of the
writings, based on the critical edition. The Postulation is not now
granting, or encouraging, publication and promotion of the writings
(except as noted above), so as not to create obstacles to the
Cause. [Clarifications7-9,
11, 14; Communique,
Iannuzzi letter]

As for the
status of the writings with the Holy See, the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith affirmed the following in a letter to EWTN of
4 October 2003,

The
writings of Luisa Piccarreta have not been judged by this
Dicastery: as such they enjoy neither the official
approbation, nor the official condemnation, of this
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In fact, they are
currently being studied, by reason of competence, by the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints, after this Servant of
God, independently of the content of her writings,
received the nihil obstat of the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith regarding her cause for
beatification.

As such,
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith makes, at this
time, no pronouncement on the writings in question.

It should be noted that as of
the close of the Diocesan phase of the Cause in October 2005, the
typical edition of the writings had been prepared for delivery to the
Congregation for the Causes of the Saints which, together with the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, will review it. Only after
review could the critical edition of the writings be publicly released.
[Clarifications
2-3,7-8]

Interpreting
her Writings

The Servant
of God's writings should be interpreted according to the mind and
teaching of the Church. Even if they are ultimately judged to be of
supernatural origin, they necessarily correspond also to the
mystic's own mentality, which was that of a simple pious person and
not a theologian. In keeping with Catholic theology, this must be
taken into account in judging what she wrote down of her mystical
experiences. At this stage in the Process there is no definitive
interpretation of her work. The Diocesan Process judged only her life and
heroic virtues, and prepared the critical edition
of the writings with commentary, for the review of the Holy See, which
alone can give a definitive judgment and explanation.

Conferences

In 1998 the
now retired Archbishop of Trani, Carmelo Cassati, ordered the
suspension in the United States of Divine Will Conferences, because
of the controversies noted earlier. While this suspension no longer
applies, the following statements govern conferences in the U.S. and
throughout the world.

The current Archbishop can only directly authorize priests under his authority, such as Fr. Bucci, to speak on
Luisa and her spirituality. However, priests who have a letter from their own
Bishop permitting them to speak on Luisa, and who are conversant with both
her writings and Catholic theology, can have their Bishop request a
letter from the Archbishop of Trani which authorizes them to speak
officially. They
can then present the Archbishop's letter to the bishops of locales where they wish
to give conferences.

The Archbishop will only grant
permission to speak publicly to priests, and then only about the life and
virtues of the Servant of God. Lay persons will no longer be permitted to teach publicly,
either about the spirituality of the Divine Will, or regarding her life and
virtues. All
conferences presented by priests without this letter, or by laity, would not represent the Postulation. So, while
unable to regulate what local bishops might allow, the Postulation
is discouraging Catholics from attending conferences given by individuals without
a
letter of authorization from the Archbishop of Trani, Italy. (Clarifications
14)

Reading
her Writings

While the
Postulation does not have the authority to prohibit the reading of
Luisa's writings that are in circulation, no one is permitted to
publish her Diary of 36 volumes. Exceptions have been made for the
following writings of Luisa: The 24 Hours of the Passion, The
Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will, and her Letters, as
well as for the works of Padre Bernardino Bucci about Luisa. Prayer groups are
encouraged to study these approved books until such time as the official
typical edition is published in conformity with the doctrine of the
Church and the approval of the Congregation for the Causes of the
Saints. [Clarifications8, 14]

Prayer
Groups

The
Postulation encourages prayer groups in the various dioceses of the
world, in order to spread Luisa's fame of holiness. It especially
desires that her great devotion to the Mother of God be imitated.
It urges, whenever possible, that groups be conducted under the guidance of a
prudent priest of proven orthodoxy. The supervision of prayer
groups falls under the competence of each diocesan bishop.

The
Postulation also encourages prayer to Luisa, and the careful documentation
and reporting of any favors received through the intercession of
the Servant of God. However, in keeping with the norms of the Holy
See, while there may be private prayer and veneration (i.e. outside
the church setting), there must be no public veneration (cultus) of Luisa, as
would be given to a blessed or saint (public liturgies or
devotions, images in churches, etc.) . This would constitute a
grave obstacle to the Cause, as it belongs to the Holy Father
alone, with the Beatification of an individual, to permit public
veneration. [Clarifications10,
12-13]